The silver dragon and the royal maiden
by Eevil-Faerie
Summary: Well,Princess Kaoru is in a terrible danger. She is going to be the sacrifice to the fearsome silver dragon. Her only hope,the knight Kenshin. One shot


THE SILVER DRAGON AND THE ROYAL MAIDEN  
  
Princess Kaoru,the youngest princess the royal family, is very angry. Very angry indeed. Snarling, she is trying her best to free her wrists. Both of her wrists were tied tightly by red silken cords. She tried to wrench her hand s free from the bedpost. No use. She cried out with frustration.  
  
"Oi, you! Let me go or I'll kill you!" she yelled at the two stony guards who are playing chess on her dressing table.  
  
The guards are looking at her, doing nothing. They knew she won't be successful. They know she won't get away.  
  
The door opens and 3 people stepped into her room. The guards jumped and saluted them. She glared at them. It is her parents and brother.  
  
Seijjuro Hiko just looked at his daughter sadly. He has to do this. It is his duty. It is her duty too, as a royal princess of the realm. His wife Yumi is wiping her tears. She is sad, but she knew they have no choice. His son, the crown prince,Soujiro is looking sad. Unusual, he always smiled no matter what happened. The sadness in his face told how much anguish he is in.  
  
"Daughter, please stop struggling against your fate." he announced grimly. She struggled to free herself harder. The queen dabbed an embroidered handkerchief to her tear stricken eyes and bawl like a baby.  
  
"You have the duty for our people. We have no choice, dear daughter Please forgive us. Accept your fate." The queen said, averting her face, still bawling.  
  
Soujiro just stared at his sister. His sister is going to die. It feels likes a punch to his stomach. He is going to lose a sister. Kaoru glanced pleadingly to his brother. He looked away. This is inevitable.  
  
"Farewell" Soujiro said softly, turning to walk away. The king and queen followed their son grimly.  
  
Kaoru slumped dejectedly on her bed. She is going to die, no matter what she said. Die!  
  
######  
  
The whole kingdom is celebrating her death. She is being paraded on an elaborately dressed albino elephant.  
  
An elephant! She rolled her eyes.  
  
She is wearing a white, flowing wedding dress. It is tradition for the sacrificial princess to be bought to the steel stake wearing her wedding dress. And she must be tied to the stake with white silken cords.  
  
Kaoru hates every second of this.  
  
Why must she be the sacrificial maiden?  
  
Mental head-slap.  
  
Because she is a maiden of course. According to the history, every 50 years, the silver dragon will kill everyone with its fiery breath. The historian recorded horrific death by the dragon's breath.  
  
The only thing to stop it is by a sacrifice.  
  
That dragon is a very picky eater. It only wants special meals, which is an unmarried virgin of a suitable age and of royal blood.  
  
Kaoru sighed. She fits all that rules.  
  
Of course if she married someone quickly, she would be excused.  
  
She grimaced.  
  
Her childhood friend,Kenshin, did proposed to her several days ago.. He even offered to elope. Chivalrous as usual, a typical knight behavior. She let him down. She would rather die than marry a poor knight like him. And the way he stated that he is marrying her because of duty annoyed her. She would only marry someone for love.  
  
No, she is not giving up. She will not die. She will fight the dragon to the very end.  
  
There is still hope. According to the dusty history books, there times when the dragon rejects the sacrificial maiden. The first princess has harelip. The second reject is a fat princess. She hoped the dragon would reject her. She's too skinny anyway; there won't be any meat on her. He won't be full for 50 years eating her. It won't be great for her ego, but good for her life. Her plan A  
  
Kaoru prayed to god. She doesn't want to die.  
  
######  
  
She is tied to the stake by two of her royal escorts. The ancient, gruesome looking stake. It's rusted and the coppery material stained her wedding dress. She looked right and left. Everyone is leaving her tied there, helpless. To face the silver dragon alone.  
  
She tried to free her wrists. The silken cords are strong. It is tied so strongly she feels her hands going numb. She peered at the looming cave in front of her. The cave where the dragon supposedly lived. It looked dark. No dirty dragon inside.  
  
She could feel the butterflies inside her tummy going crazy. She started sweating.  
  
And that's when the ground shook violently. Like an enormous earthquake. She guessed that it must be the dragon.  
  
And inside the cave, a flickering red flame appeared. It seemed to be moving closer.  
  
And she screamed. A normal reaction to the stinky smoke. The dragon has bad breath it seems.  
  
And a sound of galloping hooves filled her ears.  
  
Hooves? Dragon has hooves? Dragon's gallop?  
  
"Princess Kaoru!!" A familiar voice shouted. She turned and saw a knight on a horse coming towards her.  
  
"Kenshin? What are you doing here!" She shouted. The foolish knight is wearing a full body armor. His horse is wearing an armor too. He is holding a long steel rod.  
  
"I am trying to save your highness!" He shouted back.  
  
At that very moment, an enormous, reptile face popped up from the cave. And the historian is true, it is silver in color. Kaoru saw it's golden eyes blinked curiously at her. It looked like it's considering weather she passed the test or not. Kaoru gulped.  
  
A swish interrupted the dragon's study. Kaoru saw that Kenshin had swatted the dragon's head with his pole. The dragon looked at Kenshin,annoyed.  
  
It opened its mouth. Kaoru screamed, seeing the sharp teeth. It's going to eat her alive!  
  
Instead, the dragon puffed. A gust of hot air blowed at Kenshin and Kaoru. Just like that,Kenshin and his horse is flown several feet away. Kaoru is tied to the stake, only her crown of flowers flew.  
  
That is it. It is her doom. The dragon,blinked and looked at her. A spiky reptile fingers pulled her from the stake. It grasped her firmly and took her inside the cave, her screams echoing .  
  
"Noo!!!" The bruised knight screamed.  
  
######  
  
The kingdom celebrated her death. They held a 7 day 7 night feast. Everyone is enjoying themselves. They are safe from the horrendous beast for the next 50 years.  
  
Except for a sad knight. He had failed his friend, his princess. He failed Kaoru. He sighed forlornly.  
  
######  
  
Kaoru is still screaming her heads off. Until her throat is sore. After that she kicked at the silver scaled hands angrily. The dragon just looked at her curiously. She is mad. She bites the scaly fingers holding her. It bleeds. The dragon flicked a warning gaze to her. She stopped struggling. It is useless.  
  
The dragon is taking her somewhere.  
  
She is terrified. Her imagination is running wild. A picture of the dragon grilling her over a slow fire filled her head.  
  
The dragon stopped at a narrow entrance. Although it is dark, that narrow entrance is illuminated by golden lights. The light is coming from inside that cave.  
  
She gasped. It is a stove! The dragon is going to bake her!  
  
It put her inside slowly inside the narrow cave.  
  
"Oh my god!" She managed to say. She gasped. This is unbelievable!  
  
Instead of a stove, she is inside a cave filled with treasures beyond her wildest dreams. The piles of wealth filled the cave. She is standing on a pile of gold bricks.  
  
A golden eye peeked from the entrance. Kaoru looked at the vertical slits curiously. When is the dragon going to eat her? Why is putting herself in this treasure filled caves?  
  
A reptilian finger pointed to a corner of that cave. Kaoru turned and looked at the direction. There is a door there. She walked to the door and opened it.  
  
It is a room. A bedroom. A girl's bedroom. There is a huge canopy bed just like her room in the castle. It is a very comfy room. And it smelled like flowers.  
  
It looked like the dragon wanted her to stay with it.  
  
Aww.  
  
The old dragon is not going to eat her alive. The dragon is just a lost reptile, seeking for companionship. It's lonely. It just wanted a friend.  
  
It feels like a huge weight is lifted from her shoulders. She ran out of the room and straight to the dragon.  
  
She began to see the dragon in a different light. The dragon is blinking at her. Actually it's fluttering its lashes. And its ears drooped suddenly. It strongly reminded her of her pet puppy named Yahiko.  
  
It is so adorable!  
  
Her expression softened at the thought.  
  
She glimpsed the bleeding hand of the dragon. She feels guilty. The dragon has no intention to harm her at all. Instead she made it bleed.  
  
On a sudden impulse she gestured to dragon. The dragon blinked. Kaoru got neared to its face. The dragon just looked at her curiously.  
  
"I am sorry for hurting you" She murmured. She walked nearer to the dragon and did a most impulsive thing she ever done in her life. She kissed the dragon on its lips.  
  
A sudden flash of light left her vision temporarily gone. She blinked to clear her vision.  
  
There is no dragon in front of her. Instead a strikingly handsome young man is there. He is so tall. She liked tall man. He has spiky silvery hair, and he is wearing a silver cape. He is so damned handsome!  
  
He is looking at both of his hands. He is amazed. He wiggled his fingers in front of his eyes. He began to laugh happily.  
  
Wait a minute, where is the dragon?  
  
Kaoru just stared at the hot young man.  
  
He whooped with joy and hugged her.  
  
"Thank you princess!"  
  
She just gaped.  
  
"I am Enishi Yukishiro. You just broke the curse. You broke the curse! Thank you! I am tired of being a dragon for so long. Thank you for turning me back into my former self!"  
  
"Whoa, slow down"  
  
Enishi took her hand and kissed them." Okay, I am clarifying this. I am prince Enishi Yukishiro. I was cursed by an evil witch, her name is Megumi. She hates my guts, maybe because I rejected her love. Anyway, she told me that the only thing that can turn me back to human is a kiss. A kiss from a princess."  
  
He hugged her tightly.  
  
"You saved me from breathing fire for eternity" He took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately.  
  
Hmm,he is a great kisser.  
  
"So now I can leave?" she said softlty.  
  
"Sure, and I am coming with you" He smiled.  
  
She stared at him.  
  
"I am going to ask for your father for your hand in marriage" he stated calmly.  
  
She blinked at him. He smiled at her.  
  
Hmm. This is very peculiar. Very peculiar indeed.  
  
She smiled.  
  
"I'll think about it on the way to my castle" She said. He nodded and took her hand. They walked hand-in-hand gaily out of the cave.  
  
~That's it. I leave it to your imagination to continue the story. I'm too lazy to do so. :P~ 


End file.
